CULINARY TERMS

( Sem. 1)
BONOPHOOL BANERJEE

abats [a-bah]- French for poultry giblets and meat offal; internal
organs or variety meats, such as hearts, liver, sweetbreads, and
gizzards; sometimes used interchangeably with ABATIS.

acidulated water- Water to which a small amount of lemon juice or

vinegar has been added; used to prevent fruits and vegetables from
discoloring and to blanch certain foods, such as SWEETBREADS.

agar-agar [AH-gar-AH-gar]- An Asian seaweed used by commercial

food processors as a gelatin substitute in soups, sauces, jellies, and ice
cream; it has a remarkable capacity for absorbing liquids—far greater
than that of GELATIN or ISINGLASS.

à la [ah lah] In the style of, the full phrase being à la mode de; this
term designates a specific garnish. Often the à la is assumed rather
than stated, so that a dish such as Sole à la bonne femme, for instance,
is usually contracted to Sole bonne femme. The same holds true for
the Italian alla.

albumen [al-BYOO-men] The protein portion of egg white,

comprising its greater part, which coagulates with heat; also found in
milk, animal blood,plants, and seeds.

allemande [al-leh-mahnd] Veal VELOUTÉ reduced with white wine

and mushroom essence, flavored with lemon juice, and bound with
egg yolks. Sauce allemande, which means “German sauce,” is a basic
classic sauce in French cuisine.

allumette [al-lü-met] A “matchstick” strip of puff pastry with either a

sweet or savory filling or garnish. The term, from French cuisine, also
applies to potatoes peeled and cut into matchstick-size strips.
aurore, à l’ [ah l’ohr-ohr] In French cuisine, BÉCHAMEL sauce
colored pink with a small amount of tomato purée; “dawn” implies a
rosy hue.

baba A yeast cake, sometimes with currants, that is baked in a special

cylindrical mold and soaked with syrup and dark rum or kirsch;
supposedly named by Stanislaus I. Lesczyinski, king of Poland, when
he steeped a KUGELHOPF in rum and named it after Ali Baba in The
Arabian Nights’ Entertainment.

bacon Side or belly of pork that has been boned, dried, and preserved
with salts and possibly sugar and other seasonings, also usually
trimmed of rind, smoked, and sliced thin. Small pieces of blanched
bacon (see LARDON) are often browned and used for braising, the
fat for frying, the meat for flavoring and garnishing the finished dish. .
baguette [ba-get] A long cylindrical loaf of French white bread,
literally a “stick.”

bain-marie [binh-ma-ree] French for a container of warm water over

which a smaller pot or pots rest, to provide slow, even, indirect heat
and protect the contents from overheating; a hot-water bath used on
the stove or in the oven. A double boiler is a type of bain-marie.

bake blind To bake a pastry shell unfilled; the dough is pricked with
the tines of a fork, fitted with grease-proof paper, filled with dried
beans, rice, or pie weights to hold it down, and partially baked.

baking powder A leavening agent for bread and pastry; when

moistened, it produces carbon dioxide to aerate and lighten dough.
There are many types, each combining alkaline and acidic material. In
double-acting baking powder, the chemical action occurs twice, first
when moistened and second when heated.

baking soda Bicarbonate of soda; a leavening agent similar to baking

powder but used with an acid such as sour milk.
balsamic vinegar A very fine, expensive type of Italian vinegar,
aceto balsamico tradizionale, made in Modena, aged in a series of
special wooden casks for a dark, mellow, subtle flavor, to be used
with discretion. Industrial balsamic, with added caramel for color and
flavor, is now widely available and affordable for more general uses.

barbeque A method of cooking marinated food on a grill or spit

over a slow and smoky hardwood, charcoal, or briquette fire; the
name also extends to marinades and social gatherings at such
cookouts. The word has sometimes (mistakenly) come to mean a grill,
or grilled food, cooked over high n direct open heat.

barquette [baahr-ket] In French cuisine, a boat-shaped pastry shell

filled and baked as an hors d’oeuvre or sweet; the name sometimes
applies to vegetable cases for stuffing, such as zucchini.

baste To moisten during cooking by spooning liquid over food, in

order to prevent toughness.

bavarois [ba-vaahr-wah] In French cuisine, BAVARIAN CREAM,

but not to be confused with the bavaroise drink of sweetened tea
enriched with egg yolks and milk and perhaps flavored with citrus.

béarnaise [bayr-nez] A sauce of the warm emulsion type in classic

French cuisine; wine vinegar is reduced with shallots and tarragon,
then cooled; egg yolks and butter are beaten in and the mixture is
strained and finished with chopped tarragon and perhaps chervil. One
of the classic sauces, it is served primarily with grilled meat, fowl,
and eggs.

Bercy [bayr-see] A classic French fish sauce of white wine and fish
FUMET reduced with shallots and finished with butter and parsley;
also made with meat glaze and beef marrow for grilled meat.
beurre blanc [beuhr blanhk] A French sauce of white wine and
shallots reduced, thickened with butter, and served warm with
seafood, poultry, or vegetables.

beurre manié [beuhr ma-nyay] In French cooking, flour and butter,

usually in equal proportion, kneaded into a paste to thicken sauces
and gravies; the flour can be browned or not.

bisque A thick puréed soup, often made from shellfish, with the shells
flambéed and pulverized for maximum flavor, then strained through a
sieve. Bisque, which originally meant a poultry or game soup, is
sometimes used loosely to mean a creamy purée. Bisque can also
mean an ice cream with crushed macaroons or nuts.

blanch To immerse vegetables, fruit, or meat in boiling water briefly,

then plunge them into cold water to stop the cooking; this technique is
used to firm or soften flesh, to set color, to peel skin, or to remove raw
flavor.

blanquette [blanh-ket] A French stew of veal, chicken, or lamb

braised in stock, thickened with egg yolks and cream, and garnished
with mushrooms and small white onions; the sauce is always white.

bonne femme, à la [ah lah bon fam] “In the style of the good
woman or wife,” in a simple home style, often accompanied by small
onions and mushrooms, in a white wine sauce flavored with lemon
juice.

bouillon [boo-yonh] In French cooking, stock or broth that forms the

basis of soups and sauces; it can be made from vegetables, poultry, or
meat boiled in water, depending on its use, and need not contain
gelatin.

boulangère, à la [ah lah boo-lanh-jhayr] In French cuisine, garnished

with braised onion and potato, originally cooked in the baker’s oven.
bouquet garni [boo-kay gaahr-nee] In French cooking, a bunch of
herbs tied together in a small bundle for flavoring a dish as it cooks
and removed before serving; it usually includes parsley, thyme, and
bay leaf, among other herbs.

brioche [bree- SH] A French cake or pastry made from a rich yeast
dough containing butter and eggs, often baked in a characteristic
fluted mold with a smaller knob on top (brioche parisienne), as well
as in various other shapes and sizes.

carrottes à la Vichy [ka-roht ah lah vee-shee] Sliced carrots cooked,

if possible, in Vichy mineral water, with butter, a little sugar, and salt
until glazed, and garnished with chopped parsley.

chaud-froid [sh -fwah] French for poultry, game, or meat that is

cooked but served cold, usually covered with aspic or a special sauce
and highly garnished.

chiffonnade [shee-fohn-nad] In French cuisine, leaf vegetables

sliced into very thin strips, particularly lettuce and SORREL shredded
and sautéed in butter.

chive An herb of the onion family, whose tall thin leaves delicately
flavor savory foods.

Choron [shohr-onh] In classic French cuisine, BÉARNAISE sauce

colored pink with a little tomato purée.

chou-fleur [shoo fleur] French for cauliflower

chowder A thick soup, made from various foodstuffs; the word comes
from the French chaudière, the iron cauldron in which it was cooked,
which, in turn, derives from the Latin word for “warm.” Today,
chowder is usually made of seafood or perhaps vegetables, with a
milk base.
cock-a-leekie A Scottish soup made from chicken broth, leeks, and
sometimes prunes and pieces of chicken.

cocotte [k -KOT] French for casserole; a cooking pot with a closely

fitted lid for slow braising or stewing.
.
condiment A relish, pickle, or seasoning, highly aromatic, that
accompanies food at the table and stimulates the appetite.

confectioners’ sugar Powdered white sugar, crushed, not crystallized

like superfine sugar, useful for its ability to dissolve quickly; a small
amount of cornstarch is added to prevent caking; the British term is
icing sugar.

consommé [konh-somh-may] French for clear broth; meat, chicken,

game, or fish stock flavored with vegetables, strained, reduced, and
usually clarified.

cornichon [kor-nee-shohn] French for a little gherkin or pickle used

to garnish pâtés and smoked meat or fish.

courgette [koor-JHET] British for zucchini.

court bouillon [koor boo-yonh] In French cuisine, flavored,
acidulated stock for cooking food, primarily fish, but also vegetables
and meat.

Crécy, à la [ah lah kray-see] With carrots; from the town of the same
name, where the finest French carrots were grown.

crème fraîche [krem fresh] French for heavy cream with a lactic
culture introduced; the culture acts as a preservative and gives a
characteristic tangy flavor;
crème pâtissière [krem pa-tee-syayr] French for pastry cream—a
custard of eggs, flour, milk, and sugar used to fill cream puffs, line
tarts underneath fruit, and garnish various pastries.

Creole In Louisiana, food cooked in the Creole style usually begins

with sautéed tomatoes, onions, celery, and sweet peppers, and often
includes rice; it combines the many local influences—French,
Spanish, African, and Indian— in a unique way; see also CAJUN. In
classic French cuisine, à la créole designates a dish garnished with
rice and containing sweet peppers, onion, and
tomatoes cooked in oil.

croissant [kwah-sanh] A light yeast-dough pastry layered like puff

pastry, rolled into a “crescent” shape, sometimes stuffed, and baked;
an indispensable part of the traditional French breakfast.

croquembouche [kr k-emh-boosh] French bite-size cream puffs,

literally “crack-in-the-mouth,” piled high into a pyramid and
cemented together with sugar glaze or caramel; other pastries and
fruits arranged in an ornamented pile.

croquette [kr -ket] Chopped meat or vegetables bound with a white

sauce, coated with bread crumbs, and fried into a crisp, brown
cylindrical shape; originally French.

crudités [krü-dee-tay] Raw food, usually vegetables, eaten before a

meal to assuage hunger and stimulate appetite.

dauphine, à la [ah lah d -feen] In French cooking, potato purée

mixed with pâte à choux and deep-fried in balls or baked in piped
shapes.

dauphinoise [d -feen-waz] In French cooking, in the style of

Dauphiné; potatoes à la dauphinoise are sliced and baked with milk,
egg yolk, nutmeg, Gruyère, and garlic.
déglacer [day-gla-say] In French, to deglaze by dissolving—with
wine, stock, or other liquid—the sediment left in the pan after meat,
poultry, or fish has been cooked in a small amount of fat.
demi-glace [deu-mee-glas] In French cuisine, brown sauce reduced by
half— nearly to a glaze—with veal stock.

dente, al [al DEN-tay] In Italian, literally, “to the bite”; refers to

pasta or vegetables cooked only until firm and crunchy, not soft and
overdone.

Dubarry, à la [ah lah dü-baahr-ee] In French cuisine, garnished

with cauliflower shaped into balls, coated with Mornay sauce, and
glazed with château potatoes.

Dugléré [dü-glay-ray] Sole poached and served in a sauce of

tomatoes, shallots, herbs, and white wine reduced and finished with
cream; named for the famous eighteenth-century French chef Dugléré.

dumpling A round lump of dough steamed on top of a savory soup or

stew, or stuffed and baked with a sweet fruit filling; the variety is
infinite.

duxelles [dük-zel] In French cooking, finely chopped mushrooms and

shallots slowly cooked in butter to form a thick, dark paste that is
used for seasoning sauces, as a spread for toast, and in other
preparations; often said to be the invention of La Varenne, who
worked for the Marquis d’Uxelles, but the story is probably
apocryphal since he gives no such recipe in his books.
éclair [ay-klayr] Choux pastry piped into finger shapes and filled
with flavoured cream; originally French.

emulsion A stable liquid mixture in which one liquid is suspended in

tiny globules throughout another, as with egg yolks in oil or butter for
mayonnaise or hollandaise sauce.
épinard [ay-pee-naahr] French for spinach.
.
espagnole [es-pa-ny l] A basic brown sauce that serves as the basis
for many others in classic cuisine; made from brown roux, brown
stock, browned MIREPOIX, tomato purée, and herbs cooked together
slowly, skimmed, and strained.

estouffade [es-too-fad] In French, a dish cooked by the ÉTOUFFER

method; also a brown stock used to dilute sauces and moisten braised
dishes.

farce [faahrs] French for stuffing, forcemeat; farci means a stuffed

dish, such as cabbage, breast of veal, or flank steak stuffed and
braised.

farinaceous Made of flour or meal; from cereal grains, starchy

fines herbes [feen ayrb] A mixture of chopped herbs such as parsley,
chervil, tarragon, and chives used to flavor omelets, salads, chops, and
so on; occasionally the term means chopped parsley alone.

flamande, à la [ah lah fla-manhd] In French cuisine, “Flemish-

style,” garnished with braised cabbage, carrots, turnips, sliced pork
belly, sausage, and potatoes

florentine, à la [ah lah flohr-enh-teen] In French cuisine,

“Florentine-style,” with spinach; a garnish, especially for eggs and
fish, of a bed of spinach; the whole dish is often masked with
MORNAY sauce. Also a confection of butter, sugar, honey, cream,
candied orange zest, and almonds cooked to the soft-ball stage;
mounds are baked and coated on the bottom with chocolate. The term
is not used in the same way in Italy.
forestière, à la [ah lah for-es-tyayr] In French cuisine, garnished
with sautéed morels or other mushrooms, diced bacon, and diced
potatoes sautéed in butter.

fricassée [free-kas-say] A French stew of white meat, usually poultry

or veal, first sautéed in butter, then braised in a white sauce, as
opposed to a BLANQUETTE, which has no initial sauté. In the
United States fricasee has come to mean braised chicken with
vegetables.

frittata [free-TAH-tah] An Italian omelet but more like a tortilla—

flat, round, the eggs set but moist, often with other ingredients mixed
in with the eggs. Frittate are usually eaten for a light evening meal,
with many regional variations.

fromage [fr -majh] French for cheese; fromager means to add grated
cheese, usually Gruyère or Parmesan, to a sauce, dough, or stuffing,
or to sprinkle it on top of food for browning in the oven.

fumé [fü-may] French for smoked.

fumet [fü-may] In French cuisine, a concentrated liquid that gives
flavor and body to stocks and sauces; made by completely reducing
stock that may contain wine; see also ESSENCE and EXTRACT.

game Wild animals, either furred, feathered, or finned, that are

pursued for sport and whose flesh is edible; except for fish, game is
often hung and marinated in vinegar or wine and oil to break down
tough muscular tissue and develop flavor.

garde manger [gaahrd manh-jhay] French for a pantry or cold

storage area for foodstuffs where the cold buffet in a hotel dining
room is prepared; the chef garde manger oversees this area and is
responsible for pâtés, salads, GALANTINES, CHAUD-FROIDS, and
so on, and for fancy display garniture.

génoise [jhay-nwahz] In French cuisine, a sponge cake made with

well-beaten unseparated eggs, the only leavening, to produce a dry,
light base with a tight crumb, for buttercream, petit fours, lining for
molds, and various other elaborate pastries. Génoise, French for
“Genoa-style,” can also mean with tomato sauce.

gherkin A small cucumber—the young specimen of certain varieties

—used especially for pickling and garnishing. giblets The heart, liver,
gizzard, neck, wing tips, feet, leg ends, and sometimes
cocks’ combs and kidneys of poultry, cooked separately in stocks and
stews; goose and duck livers, as special delicacies, are not considered
giblets.

glace [glas] French for ice cream; cake icing; see EXTRACT; glacé
means glazed, iced.

glaze To give a shiny appearance to various preparations both hot and

cold in one of several ways: to brown meat in its own stock in the
oven or under the

SALAMANDER; to brush extract over meat or other food; to coat

chilled food with aspic jelly; to cover fish or eggs in a light sauce; to
coat hot vegetables with a butter sauce with a little sugar; to coat
sweets with sprinkled sugar or strained jam and caramelize them
quickly under intense heat; to ice confections.

gluten A substance formed when certain flours, especially hard wheat,

are combined with water and yeast into an elastic dough, which rises
due to trapped air bubbles produced by the yeast; if dough is put
under running water or well chewed, the starch is removed, leaving
the viscous gluten behind.
haricot [a-ree-k ] French for bean, either fresh (frais) or dried (sec);
haricot blanc, white kidney bean, fresh or dried; haricot de mouton,
mutton stew with turnips and potatoes but no beans at all; haricot
flageolet, pale green bean, usually fresh in France and rare in the
United States; haricot rouge, red kidney bean, fresh or dried; haricot
vert, green string bean.

hollandaise [ -lanh-dez] In classic French cuisine, a thick emulsion

sauce of reduced vinegar whisked with egg yolks, into which melted
butter is gradually beaten. It is then flavored with lemon juice and
kept warm in a bain-marie; one of the basic sauces, it is used
primarily with fish, eggs, and vegetables; in modern cooking there are
many shortcuts in technique and ingredients.

iceberg lettuce A crisphead lettuce, pale green, formed in a densely

packed head whose outer leaves can be easily removed; slow to wilt
and excellent for shredding but with little flavor.

jardinière, à la [ah lah jhaahr-dee-nyayr] In French cuisine, “in the

style of the gardener’s wife”: garnished with various fresh vegetables
cooked and arranged separately around the main piece of meat or
poultry.

julienne [jhü-lyen] Vegetables or other foodstuffs cut into fine

matchsticks.
ketchup Historically this word, Chinese in origin, means a savory
sauce or condiment, made from diverse foodstuffs, such as
mushrooms, anchovies, or oysters, pickled in brine. Today’s
commercially manufactured tomato ketchup is highly derivative; also
spelled catchup, catsup, and katsup.
leavening Any agent that produces gas in dough or batter by means of
FERMENTATION, thus raising and lightening it. Yeast, baking
powder, and baking soda are all common forms of leavening; beaten
egg whites, although they do not involve fermentation, are another
kind of leavening.

legume [lay-GYOOM] The seed pod of leguminous plants whose

peas or beans are eaten fresh (sprouted or not) and dried for their
vitamin B, high protein, and carbohydrate value; legumes are an
important staple food crop in much of the world, and some of them
have separate entries.

liaison [lyay-sonh] In French cuisine, the binding or thickening of a

soup or sauce by means of egg yolk, blood, or starch such as flour
(see BEURRE MANIÉ and ROUX), arrowroot, cornstarch, or
tapioca.
mace The lacy aril covering of the black NUTMEG shell, enclosing
the nutmeg kernel; mace dries from bright red to orange brown and is
sold in “blade”strips or powdered form. The spice tastes like nutmeg
with a hint of cinnamon, at once warmer yet subtler, and is used more
widely in savory dishes than is nutmeg.

maître d’hôtel [ME-truh D’ -TEL] French for the person in charge

of a restaurant dining room, who must command every aspect of
service to patrons; originally, in royal or noble households, it was a
position of great importance; the informal maître d’ is often used
today. Maître d’hôtel butter is seasoned with chopped parsley and
lemon juice.

margarine A butter substitute, originally made from animal fats and

now from vegetable fats, developed in 1869 by a French chemist.
Similar in cost and calories to butter, but with no cholesterol and less
saturated fat, margarine is now questioned by health food purists for
its preservatives and hydrogenated oils.
marzipan A paste of ground almonds, sugar, and egg white shaped
and often colored to resemble fruits, vegetables, animals, and the like;
the tradition of these decorative confections is very old, dating at least
to the Middle Ages.

mayonnaise [m -yohn-nez] The classic French EMULSION of egg

yolks seasoned with vinegar and mustard, with oil added very
gradually to form a thick sauce. There are many variations of this
basic cold sauce and many explanations, none certain, as to the
name’s derivation. Mayonnaise verte is flavoured and colored green
with finely minced herbs such as spinach, sorrel, watercress, parsley,
chervil, and tarragon; the herbs may be blanched first.

meringue Pastry made of stiffly beaten egg whites with sugar, shaped
variously, and baked in a slow oven or poached. In an ITALIAN
MERINGUE, hot sugar syrup is beaten into stiffly whipped egg
whites, for lightening pastries and buttercreams, soufflés, and sorbets.

mignonette [mee-nyoh-net] In French cuisine, coarsely ground white

pepper; originally this included various other spices, such as allspice,
nutmeg, coriander, cinnamon, ginger, clove, and red pepper.
Sometimes mignonette means white and black pepper coarsely ground
together; finely ground is poivre gris. A mignonette can also mean a
MÉDAILLON of lamb.

mirepoix [meer-pwah] In French cooking, a mixture of diced

vegetables— usually carrot, onion, celery, and sometimes ham or pork
belly—used to flavour sauces and other preparations; see also
BRUNOISE.

mise en place [meez enh plas] A French term, literally “put in place,”
meaning that the preparation is ready up to the point of cooking.

Mornay [mohr-nay] BÉCHAMEL sauce with butter, grated

Parmesan and Gruyère cheeses, possibly with egg yolks beaten in—a
classic French sauce.
muffin A round individual pastry, either flat or raised, often served
with butter. An English muffin (unknown in England) is a flat yeast
bread baked on a griddle, while a generic muffin is a raised quick
bread made of any kind of flour and often including nuts or fruit,
baked in a deep mold in the oven.

mulligatawny An Anglicized soup of East Indian origin; chicken or

lamb poached in broth, flavored with curry and other spices, and
served with rice, cream, lemon, and the diced meat.

nage, à la [ah lah najh] In French cuisine, cooked in a COURT

BOUILLON of white wine, carrots, onions, shallots, and herbs; nage
means swimming.

navarin [na-vaahr-inh] A French lamb or mutton stew with small

onions and potatoes; in spring, when the dish is called navarin à la
printanière, it is made with young vegetables such as carrots, turnips,
new potatoes, and peas.

panade [pa-nad] Panada, a French peasant soup of water, stock, or

milk thickened with bread; also a thick paste made with flour (see
ROUX), bread crumbs, or other starch, possibly thickened with eggs,
and used to bind fish and meat mousses and forcemeats.

papillote [pa-pee-y t] In French cuisine, a paper frill used to garnish

the end of the rib bone on chops and crown rib roasts; en papillote
means an individual portion of fish, poultry, or meat that is wrapped
in paper (usually parchment) with seasonings and liquid to moisten it,
cooked in the oven, and served while still in the puffed-up paper, slit
at table to release the aromatic steam.

paprika A spice made from a variety of sweet red chili peppers, dried
and powdered; widely used in Hungarian cooking and essential to
GULYÁS; different types of paprika vary in heat, strength, and flavor.
pesto [PES-t ] A sauce from Genoa of crushed basil, garlic, pine nuts,
and Parmesan or Pecorino in olive oil; it is a robust sauce for
minestrone and pasta (which in Italy is invariably TRENETTE);
PISTOU is the French version.

petit four [peu-tee foor] A very small cake or cookie, often

elaborately garnished; also a sweetmeat served at the end of a dinner
(in French, literally “little oven”).

phyllo [FEE-l ] Very thin sheets of dough, made from flour and
water, layered, and filled with savory or sweet foods. In Greek the
word means “leaf,” and phyllo is, in fact, similar to the French
MILLE-FEUILLE; sometimes spelled filo.

polonaise, à la [ah lah p -l -NEZ] In French cuisine, “Polish style”:

vegetables, especially cauliflower or asparagus, cooked and sprinkled
with chopped hard-boiled egg, bread crumbs, parsley, and melted
butter.

pommes Anna [pohm AN-nah] A French dish of layered potato

slices baked with butter in a special casserole; brown and crisp on the
outside, soft on the inside.

profiteroles [pr -fee-tayr- l] In French cuisine, choux pastry puffs

with a sweet or savory filling; see also CROQUEMBOUCHE and
gâteau SAINT-HONORÉ.

ragoût [ra-goo] A French stew of meat, poultry, or fish, which may

contain vegetables; a ragoût literally “restores the appetite.”
ramequin [ram-kinh] French for a small flameproof dish, a ramekin;
also asmall cheese tart.

ratatouille [ra-ta-TOO-yah] A vegetable stew from Provence of

diced eggplant, tomatoes, zucchini, green peppers, onions, and garlic
all cooked in olive oil; there are many variations, and it can be eaten
hot or cold.

ravigote [ra-vee-g t] A classic French cold sauce of vinaigrette with

capers, chopped onions, and herbs; as a classic sauce served hot, it is
a reduction of white wine and vinegar with VELOUTÉ, shallot butter,
and herbs

ravioli [rah-VY -lee] Small pasta squares filled with spinach, ricotta,
and herbsrather than meat; see also AGNOLOTTI.

rechauffé [reu-sh -fay] French for food that is reheated or made with
leftovers.
risotto [ree-ZOHT-t ] Italian for a dish of starchy short-grain rice
cooked in butter and or olive oil with a little chopped onion to which
stock is gradually added as it is absorbed; all manner of savory foods
—vegetables, mushrooms, seafood, beef marrow, sausage—can be
added. Varieties of short-grain rice such as ARBORIO or
CARNAROLI give the proper texture, tender and creamy but never
sticky. Risotto milanese is flavored with SAFFRON, a classic
accompaniment to OSSO BUCO; the plural is risotti.

Saint-Germain [sinh-jhayr-minh] In French cuisine, with fresh

peas; potage Saint-Germain is a thick purée of fresh peas.

savarin [sa-va-rinh] A ring-shaped BABA filled variously with

crème CHANTILLY, CRÈME PÂTISSIÈRE, or fresh fruit; this
French pastry is named after the gastronome Brillat-Savarin.
soubise [soo-beez] Chopped onions sautéed in butter with béchamel
and strained; soubise can also be a purée of onions and rice finished
with butter and cream—a classic French sauce named for the Prince
de Soubise, a friend of Louis XV.

salamander A gas oven with a top element for quickly glazing or

browning dishes, used in restaurant kitchens.

savarin [sa-va-rinh] A ring-shaped BABA filled variously with

crème CHANTILLY, CRÈME PÂTISSIÈRE, or fresh fruit; this
French pastry is named after the gastronome Brillat-Savarin.

scald To heat a liquid, usually milk, to just below the boiling point,
when small bubbles form around the edge. For vegetables and fruit, to
scald means to blanch.

sweat To cook in a little fat over very low heat in a covered pot, so
that the food exudes some of its juice without browning; used
especially with vegetables.

Tabasco A fiery hot commercial sauce made of the Tabasco variety of

chilli pepper, vinegar, and salt, aged in oak barrels and bottled; made
since the Civil War in Cajun Louisiana by the McIlhenny Co.

tart A sweet or savory pie, usually with no top crust; a flan. A tartlet
is a small individual tart.

tartare [taahr-taahr] In French cuisine, sauce tartare is mayonnaise

with hard-boiled egg yolks and garnished with finely chopped onions,
chives, and capers; boeuf à la tartare is chopped lean raw beef served
with capers, chopped onions, and parsley, with a raw egg.
zest The outer, colored skin of citrus fruits where the essential oils are
concentrated. The French word is zeste, not to be confused with ziste,
the bitter white pith beneath.

RemouillageThe word translates as a “rewetting”, which is a good

way to think of the way that remouillage is made. Bones used to
prepare a “primary stock” are reserved after the first stock is strained
away from the bones. The bones are then covered with water, and a
“secondary stock” is prepared.

Estouffade The classic formula for estouffade set down by Escoffier is

virtually identical to what was then known as a brown stock. There are
differences to note, however, Estouffade is prepared by simmering
together browned meaty veal bones, a piece of fresh or cured pork, and
the requisite vegetables and other aromatic.

Matignon: An edible mirepoix that is often used in Poele'ed

dish. Typically, matignon includes two parts of carrot, one part
celery, one part leeks. One part onion, one part mushroom and
one part ham and bacon.